John Marie Keating

Background

John Marie Keating was the eldest son of Dr. William Valentine Keating, a professor of obstetrics in the Jefferson Medical College, and Susan (LaRoche) Keating, daughter of the eminent Philadelphia physician, René LaRoche. John was born on April 30, 1852 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. He came from Irish and French ancestry; William V. Keating was a nephew of William Hypolitus Keating, and John's great-grandfathers on the paternal side had been officers in the Irish Brigade of the French army during the reign of the Bourbons. Great-grandfather René LaRoche (of the same name and profession as Keating's grandfather) practiced in the Island of Santo Domingo until the insurrection, when he came to Philadelphia.

Education

John Marie Keating received his early education at Roth Academy in Philadelphia and Seton Hall in South Orange, New Jersey. Afterwards he attended the Polytechnic College in Philadelphia, and then entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated with honor in 1873. He passed interneship in the Philadelphia Hospital.

Career

About 1873 Keating was appointed a visiting physician, attending the obstetric and children's departments for many years. He lectured on diseases of children in the University until his resignation in 1880; and for a time was professor of medicine in the Woman's Medical College of Philadelphia. He was also gynecologist to the St. Joseph's and St. Agnes hospitals, assistant physician to the Children's Hospital, and physician-in-charge of the children's departments of the Howard Hospital and St. Joseph's Female Orphan Asylum. He was elected medical director of the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1881, which position he held for ten years. In 1879 he was one of General Grant's party that visited India, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Siam, and China, and on his return he wrote an interesting account of the journey, entitled With Grant in the East (1879).

Throughout his short professional life (he died at forty-one years) Keating was an enthusiastic and productive worker. In 1889-1899 he published in five volumes the Cyclopedia of Diseases of Children. He himself contributed articles to William Pepper's System of Practical Medicine (5 vols. , 1885 - 1886), A. H. Buck's Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences (9 vols. , 1885 - 93), and the Annual and Analytical Cyclopædia of Practical Medicine, edited (1899 - 1901) by C. E. de M. Sajous. He founded the International Clinics, of which he was an editor from 1891 until his death. He was also editor of the Archives of Pediatrics.

In 1890 his failing health was found to be due to tuberculosis and he moved to Colorado where, according to his friend, Dr. Judson Daland, the invigorating climate soon produced a happy effect, and in about a year he was able to resume the work of his beloved profession. He made brief visits to his native city but it soon became evident that he was waging a battle for life and died at Colorado Springs.

Achievements

• Keating's fame rested mainly on his writings. His best-known work was the "Cyclopedia of Diseases of Children", which contained various articles by leading authorities in the English-speaking world. It was hailed as the most advanced and complete work on the subject.

Works

More photos

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  • Maternity, Infancy, Childhood

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • Diseases of the Heart and Circulation in Infancy and Adolescence

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • Cyclopaedia of the Diseases of Children: Medical and Surgical

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • The Mother's Guide: In The Management And Feeding Of Infants (1882)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • The Treatment Of Whooping Cough: A Clinical Lecture Delivered At The Philadelphia Hospital (1885)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • Clinical gynaecology, medical and surgical

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • A New Pronouncing Dictionary of Medicine: Being a Voluminous and Exhaustive Hand-Book of Medical and Scientific Terminology

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • With General Grant In The East

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • A Book About Books

Membership

Keating took an active part in various medical societies: he was elected a fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1887; was a member of the American and the British Gynecological societies, the Association of Life Insurance Medical Directors, and a president of the American Pediatric Society.

Connections

Keating was marrried to Edith McCall, daughter of Peter McCall of Philadelphia. They had three daughters and a son.

Father:

William Valentine Keating

educator

Mother:

Susan (LaRoche) Keating

Spouse:

Edith McCall

Grandfather:

René LaRoche

physician

Friend:

Judson Daland

Great-grandfather:

René LaRoche

physician

References

• The Story of Some French Refugees and Their Azilum 1793-1800 (Classic Reprint)